2

You have made it to Europa. Everyone is alive, to your knowledge. The ship shudders and shifts as the meltwater slushes down on top of it and the whole ship buries itself into the ice, safe from the deadly radiation bombardment. Your mind races with what your first priority will be.

This is supposed to be a scientific base. We need to start up the readings immediately.

Earth needs to know what just happened!

I need to check on everyone, make sure there were no injuries.

Next

You pull up the recorder and begin to compose a message to Earth. It takes two hours for any file to get there, and it's reliant on a trailing wire and antenna all working as planned.

Virginia Rein is the first out of her seat. She unlatches your buckles and pulls you to your feet. You feel light in the low gravity, even lighter than on Luna.

"Time enough for all that in a moment," she says. "We did the impossible. We're here."

It truly is remarkable. Along with private donors and two large corporations, three major geopolitical factions joined together for the first time in a mission of unity. The old guard United Earth formed of the northern nations out of the wreckage of the UN, still dominated by the United States of America. The Group of 81, a loose alliance of disparate nations, mostly in the south, with wildly varying governments, united only in their opposition to the U.E. And then the upstart Libertalia, a grouping of independent city-states floating on Earth's oceans, a handful of renegade regions in Africa, South America and the Middle East, as well as their tiny outposts in the asteroid belt.

Of course, they all want something different from the colony. The liberal democracies and kingdoms of United Earth want the resources of a new frontier to revitalize their market economies. The republics and juntas of the G81 are more interested in securing new habitats for their burgeoning populations. And the Libertalian communes and city-states see in Europa a bold opportunity for new forms of human society.

You're still the leader of the expedition but your captaincy has ended with the ship's arrival. In four years' time there will be an election, but how are you now referred to?

As a leader from United Earth, I'm the President, naturally.

It's a United Earth-led colony, and I'm the Governor.

Where I'm from in the G81, they won't bat an eyelid if I call myself Commander.

I come from an old G81 republic, so I'll be a President.

I'm a Libertalian among equals here, acting as the people's Commissar for now.

In my part of Libertalia, a leader is always called a Captain.

Next

You look forward to being the President. In another four years, there might be call for an election, but for now you're the boss. The G81 would only offer their extensive rocketry experience on the condition of having one of their own lead the expedition.

The highest offices are not restricted by gender outside of the few theocracies left in the world and a handful of isolated floating cities. The leadership over the Europan colony is no different.

I'm a woman.

I'm a man.

I'm neither.

Next

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